


In with a Chance

by Mireille



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Community: Sweet Charity, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-11-11
Updated: 2007-11-11
Packaged: 2019-03-19 03:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13696011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mireille/pseuds/Mireille
Summary: "My shoulder is bleeding," Jack pointed out, "not my ankle. I'd like to offer you a practical demonstration of human anatomy, but..." He paused. "No, that's all; no 'but.'"





	In with a Chance

"If this leaves a scar," Jack said, looking down in dismay at the ruins of his favorite shirt, now pressed into service as a makeshift bandage, "somebody's going to be hearing about this."  
  
The Doctor didn't answer for a moment, fiddling with the sonic screwdriver that had, so far, proved fairly useless at getting them out of their predicament. He muttered something under his breath, jammed the screwdriver back into his pocket, and said, "The TARDIS medical unit will take care of it. It's as good as your nanogenes, and less likely to go on a mad rampage across an inhabited planet." Jack was about to argue that that had been an honest mistake, and besides, there was no lasting harm done, when the Doctor went on, "You didn't sprain your ankle, did you? She used to be a dab hand with sprained ankles. Bit out of practice now, I suppose, but I think the old girl misses them."  
  
"My  _shoulder_  is bleeding," Jack pointed out, "not my ankle. I'd like to offer you a practical demonstration of human anatomy, but..." He paused. "No, that's all; no 'but.' Though this isn't the venue I'd had in mind." He lifted the bandage for a moment; he was still bleeding, but not that much. Infection was a bigger worry now; when the aftershock from the earthquake hit, Jack had been picking his way through the debris of the first quake. What he'd fallen on, he didn't know, but whatever it was had been sharp enough to slice him open, and  _nothing_  in the wreckage of the Science Complex had been any too clean by then.  
  
Even infection wasn't  _that_  much of a worry, considering that they were trapped in the sub-basement of a ruined building with no fresh water and very little food. The Doctor had turned out his pockets earlier; Jack wasn't sure how long one squashed banana, something that looked like an alien protein bar, and a handful of peppermint humbugs were going to last them, but it couldn't be that long.  
  
"Wouldn't have thought you'd insist on satin sheets," the Doctor said, coming over to sit on the floor next to Jack.  
  
"Satin? No. Too slippery." He grinned. "Although last week the TARDIS turned up this great set made from Alterian snow-beast wool. Softest fabric in the known universe. Sleep naked, and it's just like--"  
  
The Doctor glared at him. "She's not supposed to do that."  
  
"Can I help it if she likes me?"  
  
"What do you mean, she likes-- You've been flirting with her, haven't you? Stop flirting with my ship!"  
  
Jack's answering chuckle turned out to be a bad idea; it jogged his shoulder, and he winced, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes for a moment.  
  
"Come on," the Doctor said. "Let me have a look at that." He pulled aside the wadded-up shirt, making Jack wince again, but didn't comment on the wound. "I'm going to have a look round," he said abruptly. "Stay here."  
  
"Only if I don't get a better offer." Not that Jack was going  _anywhere_ , not with the pain lancing through his shoulder every time he tried to move. As long as there was no immediate danger from staying put, it was seeming like a good option.  
  
The Doctor picked his way through the rubble, disappearing through what had once been a doorway, and Jack closed his eyes again. Nothing to do but wait.  
  


***

  
  
His shoulder was on fire.  
  
Jack struggled back to a sitting position, the pain from moving his shoulder insignificant compared to the fact that he was  _on fire_. When he opened his eyes, though, he saw a familiar grin. Not even the Doctor would be grinning if someone was actually burning to death in front of him.  
  
Then he realized that the searing agony was coming from the liquid the Doctor was dabbing onto his wound, and Jack tried to glare. "What the hell is that stuff?"  
  
"Found a first-aid kit," the Doctor said. "I thought they'd have one around somewhere."  
  
"And their idea of first aid involves burning the affected area off with acid?" Jack gritted his teeth; whimpering in pain seemed a little excessive. Besides, assuming they got out of this--and the Doctor's confidence that something would turn up was difficult to argue with--the Doctor would never let him hear the end of it. There were other things Jack would prefer to let the Doctor joke about. His Alterian wool sheets, for one, if only because at some point, he was going to persuade the man to come and have a look for himself.  
  
"It's medical-grade disinfectant. Perfectly safe, as long as you don't drink it." The Doctor finished cleaning Jack's shoulder, putting a cap on the bottle and setting it aside. "Stop being such a baby. You humans and your low pain tolerance." Now he reached in the metal box at his feet and pulled out a large green jar, unscrewing the lid and releasing a fragrance of mint and cinnamon. "Antibiotic," he explained briefly, beginning to smear a pale-green gel onto Jack's shoulder. "There was a lot of dirt in there, and if you catch something, you'll pass it to half the galaxy before we can stop you." His fingers slid over Jack's skin with surprising gentleness, despite the blunt unconcern in his words.  
  
There was something anaesthetic in the ointment as well; as the Doctor's fingers spread it over his shoulder, the pain began to ease, and Jack sighed, feeling himself start to relax for the first time since the quake had hit. "We should see if they'll let us take some of that with us," he murmured. "It's good stuff."  
  
"What, you think I'm putting this kit back where I found it?" The Doctor grinned, tucking the jar into his pocket. Jack was beginning to form a theory that the Doctor's leather jacket was as dimensionally transcendental as the TARDIS; there was no other way he could keep such an assortment of junk in his pockets without it being noticeable. And Jack would have noticed, if it was.  
  
The Doctor finished with a messy bandage--too large, but since that meant he had the Doctor's hands on the undamaged parts of his body as well, Jack wasn't about to complain. "Think you can sleep now?"  
  
With the pain at a minimum, Jack was able to shoot back, "You mean  _alone_? I'm not so sure."  
  
"Big baby," the Doctor muttered again, but he settled down again next to Jack. He didn't seem to mind when Jack leaned against him, and he was much more comfortable than the wall. And when Jack pressed a kiss to the Doctor's neck, just below his ear, the Doctor's only response was a quiet sigh.  
  


***

  
  
"Doctor! Jack! Can you hear me?"  
  
"Rose?" The Doctor scrambled to his feet, reaching down to help Jack up after him. "We can hear you loud and clear. Where are you?"  
  
"Just outside," she called back. "We'll have you out of there in a few minutes. Just sit tight--and stay away from the north wall."  
  
His shoulder was hurting again, but Jack grinned happily at the Doctor. "Rose Tyler to the rescue."  
  
"Told you we'd get out of here," the Doctor said smugly. "Cup of tea, couple of hours in the TARDIS medical unit, and you'll never know that--" he waved toward Jack's shoulder-- "was there." Then he frowned. "But no flirting. I don't want you flirting with my ship. Who knows what ideas you're giving her?"  
  
Jack smirked. "Jealous?"  
  
"Well, she doesn't give  _me_  snowbeast-wool sheets. I don't even know where she found them," he grumbled.  
  
"I'm willing to share," Jack pointed out.  
  
"Never give up, do you?" the Doctor said, but Jack remembered the careful touch of strong fingers on his skin, and thought he might be in with a chance, at that.

**Author's Note:**

> [me on tumblr](https://mireille719.tumblr.com)


End file.
